Swedish is not the same language portrayed on the television. The Swedish Swedes hear is different from what an outsider hears. It is not a joyous, humorous language, but instead it is a very sombre and melancholy tongue. Jag planerar, du ser, för att försöka hålla mig till sanningen. Det är svårt för en gammal, inbiten fantasy martyr och lögnare som aldrig tvekat att ge sanningen den form han kände tillfället krävde
Swedish can truly be felt for what it is in Swedish artwork. Most notably film. The great Swedish film pioneer Ingmar Bergman is said to be the voice of Sweden. His films are well known and beautifully express what it means to be a Swede. Yet, it is said that a person who learns Swedish from Bergman's films will only be able to speak about the darkest of subjects.
"Jag vill bekänna så gott jag kan, men mitt hjärta är ogiltiga. Tomrummet är en spegel. Jag ser mitt ansikte och känna avsky och fasa. Min likgiltighet inför människor har stängts mig. Jag bor nu i en värld av spöken, en fånge i mina drömmar."- Ingmar Bergman
The origins of Swedish tone and melancholy attitude come from its history. Sweden was one of the most socially backward and non-progessive government in all of Europe when it came to treatment of its citizens. This was reality for many hundreds of years. Due to the vast amount of harsh wilderness and inefficient government, the people of Sweden had to fight for survival on their own, creating a sense of solidarity and independence among the people. Also because of this, death became a common companion living in the harsh winters.
Antonius Block: Vem är du?
Döden: Jag är Döden.
Antonius Block: Har du kommit för mig?
Döden: Jag har länge gått vid din sida.
Antonius Block: Så jag har märkt.
Död: Är du redo?
Antonius Block: Min kropp är redo, men jag är inte.
-The seventh seal
Although Sweden has moved on in its history to become a welfare state, the strong presence of death still remains in its culture while individualism has long since dissipated. Death is present in all forms of art and literature. What is unique about Sweden is that death is not seen as an evil creature who comes to rip your life from you. Instead death is an old friend that has always been at your side and will take you with him when your time comes.
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I thought it was really interesting how you decided to tackle both your mother tongue and code switching in this blog post. You did a nice job incorporating Swedish into our blog, but you still used Standard English as to not exclude the audience in which you are trying to reach. One suggestion I would have is to focus on the nature of language as a whole, rather than spending the whole thing focused specifically on Swedish. Or, if you wanted to stick to discussing Swedish, you could add a part at the end that connects your experience with the Swedish language with a larger point about language in general. Overall, it was really interesting!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post! I liked that you tackled the misconceptions that many people in the English-speaking world have about Swedish--it made me wonder what misconceptions that we have about other languages may be wrong, or what misconceptions other cultures may have about English. By referencing Swedish art, you made a really strong case for your claims about the language--art is often the greatest reflection of a culture. I think the integration of Swedish into your post was mostly smooth, but I think maybe if you had incorporated a few interjectory words here and there, instead of full sentences, it would be easier for the reader to understand. Also, maybe you could make a stronger connection between the nature of Swedish and with language overall. However, as you are one of the few people in our class who actually speaks another language, I thought this post was a really interesting analysis of language as a whole. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteAn interesting start, Jens. I agree with the comments of Nicole and Millie, and would also encourage you to let us hear more of Jens using Swedish--while I am unquestionably a Bergman fan, I already know what he has to say. I'd like to hear YOUR mother tongue!
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